


Backstory

by LazuliQuetzal



Series: those nighttime escapades [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Tim Drake is Oracle's Sidekick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-07-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:18:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4400600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazuliQuetzal/pseuds/LazuliQuetzal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tim would've liked to blame the Red Hood, but looking back, everything was pretty much his own fault.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backstory

_Bang._

Jason Todd was having a really,  _really_  bad night. He was running on about two and a half hours of sleep, without caffeine, and only had one working gun in his arsenal due to the fact that one was in the bottom of Gotham Bay and the others were in the possession of the asshole that was shooting at him right now.

His instincts screamed at him, and he ducked. A bullet whizzed past his ear. Jason ducked behind a wall for cover, the bullets of his  _own-fucking-guns_  peppering the ground where he once stood.

"Fucking  _hell,_ " he cursed, rubbing his eyes. Under normal circumstances, this guy would be dead already, but Jason was suffering from both sleep deprivation and a healthy sense of paranoia.

Someone was watching him – he could feel it. Even before he ran into this trigger-happy drug dealer, he felt eyes on the back of his head. Jason didn't get this far in the vigilante business without good instincts, and he  _knew_  when someone was watching him.

But he couldn't deal with that right now. First, he needed to kill the douche who took his guns.

He sighed as he checked the only handgun on him. Three bullets left. No matter. He could do this in one. Jason poked his head out from behind the wall and readied the gun.

Breathe in. Grip tightly. Adjust your aim. And –

The man dropped his gun and cursed, gripping his bloodied hand. Jason smirked as he stepped out into the open, casually twirling his handgun around his fingers. Too bad the criminal couldn't see his amused expression hidden underneath his helmet.

" _That,_  my friend, is how you shoot," Jason commented. "Should've clocked more hours at the firing range, huh?"

"Go to  _hell,_ " his assailant spat out.

Despite himself, Jason stiffened. But he forced a smile underneath his helmet and readied his gun.

"I've been to hell," Jason informed the terrified crook. He raised his gun and took in the quivering form in front of him. "Gotta say, I wasn't exactly impressed."

The gun fired, and the criminal slumped over. Blood trickled down the crook's forehead. Calmly, Jason liberated his weapons from the crook's body.

Without even a backwards glance, Jason left the scene.

And two pairs of eyes followed his movements.

* * *

Tim wasn't entirely sure what he was expecting to find when he started following this – for lack of a better word –  _ninja,_  but an obsession with the Red Hood was  _not_ part of it.

Tim chanced upon the ninja during one of his information runs for Barbara. He caught sight of the figure from out of the corner of his eye, and it piqued his curiosity. After a few nights of tracking down the figure, he realized that a) he was in the Red Hood territory, which Barbara had specifically forbidden him to enter, and b) this ninja was trailing the Red Hood.

Tim knew that the Red Hood was Jason Todd. If he didn't know before getting caught by Damian and Bruce, he certainly figured it out when mentioning the Red Hood in Dick Grayson's presence a few days after their initial meeting.

The man stiffened, and his voice took on a semi-sad, semi-nostalgic tone for the rest of their conversation.

He didn't know or why Jason Todd was alive and running around Gotham, but it didn't really matter. Tim only knew bits and pieces of the Red Hood/Batfamily dynamic, but he did know the Red Hood's presence was as sore spot for Batman. And though the family didn't condone his methods, they did care for him.

(The whole thing was confusing and messed up.)

Tim knew if he told Barbara about the ninja trailing Jason Todd, she'd forbid him from getting involved, get Batman and possibly Batgirl to deal with it, and leave everyone high-strung and emotionally fragile for the next two weeks. That was not going to be good for any of them, especially since they were dealing with several kidnapped children cases, and broken focus was the last thing they needed. But Tim, on the other hand, was going to have a lot of time on his hands.

His dad was coming back to Gotham for a visit. All Tim had to do was ask Barbara for a week off, so he could spend time with his dad (and conveniently keep his vigilantism secret). And since Jack Drake never paid attention to what Tim did at night, it would be _child's play_  to sneak out and conduct his own investigation.

Tim specialized at 'under the radar', after all.

Decision made, Tim watched as the Red Hood calmly headed for home, leaving the dead body sitting in the shadows. The ninja was after him in an instant. After waiting fifteen seconds, Tim got to his feet and headed for the Oracle's HQ.

The ninja didn't seem to be an immediate threat, and he needed more information.

* * *

"Hey, Barbara," Tim said, hovering at the doorway to the secret basement. "Can I look at those files of recurring enemies?"

"Huh? Oh, sure," she said, and she pulled up the files he wanted. "I'll send it to your tablet."

"Sweet! Thanks!" Tim pulled out the aforementioned tablet and checking it.

"Why do you want those, anyway?" Barbara asked, studying her protégé's reaction.

Tim stiffened. "Oh, just in case I run into any of them, you know? With this bat on my bat, I'm kinda a target to any of Bruce's enemies, too," he explained, looking a bit too casual.

Barbara's eyes narrowed. "If you say so," she said slowly. "You'd tell me if you ran into any, right? I kinda have to keep track of all this stuff."

"Of course," Tim nodded. His body language shifted, looking more nervous now. "Also, since my dad's coming back to Gotham..."

"Sure," Barbara softened. "You can have the week off."

Tim grinned back at her, suppressing a twinge of guilt. This was the first outright lie he told Barbara. But, he reasoned, he wasn't exactly  _lying –_ he  _did_ want to spend time with his dad.

"You sure I'm not pushing you too hard?" Barbara asked. "You've taken a few nights off in the past week." She paused. "You can tell me if anything's bothering you," she reminded him, concern lacing her voice.

"Nothing I can't handle," Tim waved off her concern. "I'll let you know if it gets too big or something. Night."

He left the room, already scrolling through the files. Barbara frowned. 'If it gets too big.' Interesting choice of words.

She'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Tim was always independent, especially since he'd started his crime fighting career on his own. He preferred pushing through his problems and only accepting help when he felt he needed it. Whatever it was, she hoped it would work itself out in the coming days.

* * *

Batgirl scanned the room as Batman and Robin tag teamed against the perp. The Dynamic Duo easily brought down the crook. Watching it made Batgirl smile – she remembered those days, in the Robin costume. It was one of the most fun things she'd ever done, but she wouldn't trade Batgirl for anything.

As Batman and Robin began their interrogation, Batgirl began to search the old apartment room for clues.

She'd been on this case for a week – Batman had it for a month – and still, there were almost no leads. A month ago, children aged four to nine had started to disappear, and no one knew where they were or who was taking them. A break in the case led them to this guy – the leader of an up and coming street gang that mainly consisted of a bunch of nerdy high school kids.

It was definitely unusual. The whole setup was extremely complex, and suspiciously so. Everyone knew that someone  _larger_  was behind this whole thing, but so far, the Bats couldn't figure out who. It was frustrating. The longer it took, the smaller the chances they'd be able to recover the missing kids.

Batgirl moved to the kitchen. She systematically checked all of the cabinets, searching for any important evidence, when a movement outside the window caught her eye.

A figure, moving along the rooftops. Her eyes widened in recognition.

She burst into the living room, where Batman and Robin were interrogating their crook. "League of Assassins," she said quickly. "I'm going after the ninja."

Without waiting for a reply, Batgirl slid open a window leading to a fire escape and was flying across the rooftops. Behind her, she could hear Batman's yells, but it was too late – the chase had begun.

Her comm switched on. Not wanting another lecture, she removed the earpiece and shoved it in the pocket on the edge of her gloves. This was what she'd trained for. Batgirl could handle one measly ninja.

As she ran, she began piecing it together in her head. Of  _course_  it was the League of Assassins. Ra's al Ghul had been trying to get a foothold in Gotham for years. It was only logical to start with small crime, to float under Batman's radar.

And with the nerdy teens. There was no way a bunch of high school kids managed to make a big enough name for themselves in the crime business to be taken seriously, not without support. She had to give it to the immortal bastard – it was smart, and subtle.

The real question is: why did they suddenly switch from the drug trade to kidnapping? What was the difference? She had the feeling that the answers would lie with the ninja she was tracking.

In terms of stealth, Batgirl was better than Nightwing but worse than Robin. But she was good enough – moving slowly, she managed to keep track of the ninja, only losing sight a few times.

As her target began to slow down, Batgirl began speeding up, ready to close in. But right before she started her sprint, a weapon flew across her path, grazing her glove.

Immediately, she whirled around, hand on a batarang, and searching for her attacker. A figure stepped out of the shadows, wearing a tattered red hoodie and she blinked in confusion.

"Dra -" a hand clapped over her mouth.

"Shh," Tim whispered. "Don't let the ninja know we're here."

After making sure she wouldn't yell, Tim removed his hand from her mouth.

"I – what are you doing here?!" she hissed quietly. She inspected her gloves – the batarang Tim had thrown had sliced through her earpiece. There went the communication. "Ah, Oracle's gonna  _kill_  me for ruining this!"

Tim blinked at the pieces of the broken comm and blushed. "Uh, oops. Didn't mean to do that."

Steph sighed. It'd be hassle to replace, but Batman was a billionaire. "I thought your dad was back in Gotham – you took the week off!"

"He is," Tim whispered back. He turned around and stepped back into his hiding place, keeping an eye on the ninja.

"Well, why are you here then?" Steph asked, joining him in the shadows. "And why aren't you wearing your normal adventuring outfit?"

"Oracle's got trackers on my fancy jacket," Tim explained. "I managed to disable the one in my bo staff, but I figured getting rid of the others would alert her to something."

Steph blinked. "And what are you doing that needs to be hidden from Oracle?"

He gestured to the ninja. "I've been following this guy for about two weeks," he said. "I'm –"

"Wait," Steph cut him off. "You've been following a guy from the  _League of Assassins_  for _two weeks_? And you  _didn't tell Oracle_?"

Tim shook his head. "If I told Oracle, Batman would get involved."

Steph looked at Tim warily. "Why wouldn't you want Batman involved?" She asked, not knowing if she wanted to hear the answer.

Tim took a deep breath. "Because the ninja's after the Red Hood."

* * *

This was getting ridiculous.

Whoever it was tailing him – they were  _good._  Jason hadn't caught so much of a glimpse of his mysterious shadow. It was almost as if they were taunting him with their unseen gaze.

The Red Hood was not one for silent displays of intimidation, not one for politics and subtle messages. He was straightforward, always taking, never giving even an inch of his hard-earned wealth. This stalker had been following him for weeks, and he still had no idea what they wanted. He'd been done with this whole game a week ago. If he'd ever caught sight of his shadow, they'd be dead. Except, he couldn't catch them.

But tonight, something in the atmosphere had changed. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew that tonight, he'd get to meet his stalker.

His fingers twitched, itching to pull the trigger and shoot the damn ghost. Tonight, one way or another, he was getting his answers.

* * *

Tim and Steph carefully followed the ninja, and by extension, Red Hood, through Gotham. With no way to communicate with Oracle or Batman, they were pretty much on their own.

Steph was getting antsy ten minutes into their adventure.

"How can you stand sneaking around all the time?" Steph whispered quietly. "Gahh, I just want to  _punch_  someone."

"I thought you learned stealth under Batman," Tim replied, amused.

"Didn't mean I had to  _like_  it," Steph grumbled.

"I guess it's a Robin thing," Tim mused quietly.

Steph frowned. "What's  _that_  supposed to mean, Nerd?"

Tim rolled his eyes at Steph's unofficial codename for him. "Well, Nightwing was never the most subtle."

"True," Steph admitted. Dick was always a performer at heart – flashy moves and flips and the like. Steph recalled the first time she met Nightwing, still wearing that ridiculous disco costume he was so fond of.

"Red Hood was action oriented," Tim said. "You were all quips and sarcasm. And the Demon Spawn, assassin training or not, has a flair for the dramatic."

Steph snorted. " _Spawn._  I'll have to remember that one."

Tim squinted, studying the ninja they were following. "Is it just me, or did their body language change?"

Steph followed Tim's gaze. "Yeah," she said. She narrowed her eyes, studying the ninja's movements.

Her eyes widened. "He's gonna attack!" She whispered.

Tim glanced down at the Red Hood below, his trained eyes scanning the shadows. "And he's not alone," he said. He pulled out his weapon of choice: the collapsible bo staff Babs bought for him.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Steph called out. "I don't see anyone –  _woah._ "

With a single hand signal from the ninja, the alley became alive with people. Tim brandished his staff and leaped into the fight. He took down one of the guys with a single hit, but then they started mobbing him, and he began to lose ground.

Steph, cursing, jumped in after Tim.

"What the  _hell,_  you nerd!?" Steph yelled, ducking a punch from one of Jason's attackers. "You're not trained in combat!"

In a blink, a gun was trained at her face. The Red Hood looked confused, or as confused as she could tell with that helmet on his head.

" _Batgirl?_ " He asked, his voice filled with shock.

"Duck!" Steph called out. Hood ducked, and she threw a batarang into the attacker's face.

"What the  _hell_  are you doing here?" Hood asked, as they moved back to back. Tim quickly joined their circle, his staff in hand. "And who the  _fuck_  is this kid?"

"Less talk, more fight," Steph replied. She scanned the crowd. The attackers matched up with descriptions of members of the gang she'd been tracking down. So the League of Assassins was involved with the whole kidnapping thing.

The odds were against them. There were at  _least_  eight attackers, and only three of them. And Tim, talented as he was with a bo staff, was going on less than six months of training.

"If we make it out alive, I'm getting Robin to choose your codename," Steph snapped.

"Oh, shut  _up,_ " Tim replied.

The attackers pressed in.

* * *

"God. Fucking.  _Damnit._ "

"I heard you the first  _twenty times_ , Hood."

"Oh, _you're_  one to talk, Replacement. Care to repeat those expletives you were hurling at your little friend here?"

Steph glowered at the wall. The three of them – Jason, Tim, and Stephanie – were tied up against a pole in some abandoned warehouse in the outskirts of Gotham.

Needless to say, the fight did not end well.

"Speaking of which – who the hell are you?" Jason asked, twisting his head around to look at Tim. "Did Daddy Bats pick up another street rat?"

"I'm with Oracle, actually," Tim replied. He wriggled in vain, but stopped when his left shoulder started aching (he'd taken a nice knock during the fight). Unfortunately, they were restrained well. Not that they'd expected anything less from the League of Assassins.

"Oracle's, huh? Didn't realize she'd picked up her own," Jason mused.

"You shouldn't have," Tim replied. "I'm not supposed to be noticed."

"Fat lot of good  _that_  did," Steph hissed. "What the hell was that, jumping into the fight? And here I thought you were the  _least_  reckless out of all of us."

"To be fair, I only counted five attackers. I wasn't expecting the extra ten that jumped in out of nowhere."

"And that makes it  _so_  much better."

Silence.

"Wait a sec," Jason said suddenly. "You. Uh, whatever your name was."

"I don't have a codename."

Jason snorted. "Right.  _Nameless._ You said you weren't supposed to be noticed. Were you _following_  me?"

"No," Tim said, a little too quickly.

Steph turned around to give Tim an incredulous look.

"Well, technically, I was following the other guy. Ending up with you was just a coincidence."

Jason growled. "I'd really like to make that guy choke on his own teeth," he said. "Fucking asshole's been trailing me for weeks."

"You could at least  _pretend_  to not be a murderous asshat," Steph cut in.

Jason turned to glare at her. "Oh, right. You and your fucking bats, with your stupid-ass high and mighty  _moral_   _code._  I'm sorry, your highness, didn't mean to speak so  _crudely_  in your presence. Does it go against your obsolete code of conduct?"

"You know that's not what it's about," Steph snapped back.

"Oh, really? Because from  _my_  point of view, it looks like you lot are all just making excuses for yourselves."

Steph clenched her fists. "I'm not arguing this with you right now."

"Because you're too much of a fucking  _coward_  to do what it takes."

"And  _you're_  too much of a whiny child to say that you're wrong," Steph shot back. "We don't _murder,_  Hood."

"'We'?" Jason asked, his tone one of offended disbelief. "What  _'we'_? Don't try and lump me in with your dysfunctional train wreck of a family."

"Right," Steph drawled. "I guess that means you won't try and kill me every time we come across each other? Because it's definitely not personal."

"It'd be less personal if Batman managed to get a decent replacement."

Steph's eyes flashed. "I am  _not a replacement,_ " she hissed.

"Oh, really?"

"Stop shoving your insecurities onto me," Steph snapped. "Just because you have unresolved issues with Nightwing doesn't mean you have to -"

"Can you both just  _shut up_  and save it for later?" Tim broke in.

Steph turned and stared at Tim in disbelief. "Excuse you?" She hissed.

"Now isn't the time for you two to hash out your emotionally stunted relationship," Tim snapped. "I'm trying to think, and it's kinda hard to do when you two are sniping at each other."

"Well, at least  _you're_  not as annoying as the  _Replacement_ ," Jason drawled, enjoying the enraged expression on both Batgirl's and the kid's face.

Steph opened her mouth, but to their surprise – Tim beat her to it.

"Just – stop insulting Batgirl!" Tim nearly yelled. "Look, it's  _not her fault_  that she became Robin, if there's someone you should pick on it's –" Tim abruptly cut himself off.

Steph shot Tim a shocked and confused look. "...What do you mean, 'it's not my fault I became Robin'?" She asked.

Tim froze, inwardly cursing himself. Batgirl and Red Hood were looking at him expectantly.

"Nothing," Tim grit out.

"You can't just say something like that and then not explain!" Steph exclaimed. "What do you know about how I became Robin, anyway?"

"You already know about the childhood stalking," Tim grumbled. It was embarrassing, but anything to get away from this subject was a good thing.

Jason snorted. "Stalking?"

"When I was a kid, I used to –"

"Oh no, you don't," Steph growled, recognizing the subject change for what it was. "We can give Little Red Riding Hood over here the scoop later. What are you talking about?"

Tim screwed up his face. "Little Red?"

"I swear to God I'll officially make your codename 'Creepy Fanboy' if you try and change the subject one more time."

Tim closed his eyes. "Fine. On how you became Robin."

"Yes?"

"You and Batman ended up at the same crime scene. Batman told you to stop being Spoiler. You slapped him in the face."

Jason turned his head to look at Stephanie. "You slapped  _Batman_  in the face?" he asked, grudgingly respectful. "Shit, I've always wanted to do that."

Steph, meanwhile, was eyeing Tim warily. "You were watching that night?"

"Yeah," Tim admitted. "Batman knocked you around a bit, to show you how not ready you were. Despite the beating, you persisted for the next few weeks. Finally, when Batman was incapacitated while fighting Two-Face, you swept in, saved the day, and he picked you up to be Robin."

Jason let out a low whistle. "Damn, Replacement. Never heard  _that_  story before."

"Stop calling me Replacement! And I know this already, though," Steph said. "There's more."

"Yeah, there is," Tim said weakly. "Remember, the first time you met Batman, you slipped on the roof and fell into the alley where he was?"

Jason laughed as Steph flushed underneath her cowl. She remembered quite clearly – falling on her ass in front of the great big Bat. It was one of the main reasons Bruce declared her not ready.

"...It wasn't an accident."

Silence. And then –

"Are you implying that that was  _your_  doing?" Steph asked, voice dangerously calm.

Tim did not meet her eyes. "...Yes?"

"I couldn't sit down properly for weeks!" Steph hissed. "What the  _hell?_ "

"The night you saved Batman from Two-Face," Tim continued. "You were headed west, opposite from them, but you heard a scream. So you turned around and stumbled upon Batman and Two-Face." Tim took a deep breath. "The scream was me."

Steph didn't answer as she slumped against the pole they were tied up next to. Learning that  _dodo birds_  were still alive would be less mind-numbing than this.

"You... you planned it?" Steph asked, voice weak.

Tim chewed on the inside of his mouth.

Jason was giving Tim an appraising look. "So what you're saying is... it's  _your_  fault the Replacement became my replacement."

"...Kinda."

Steph and Jason gave him disbelieving looks.

"Okay,  _mostly_  my fault," Tim amended. "Remember those stray batarangs you used against Two-Face? I left those there, too."

Steph screwed her eyes shut. "Oh my  _God._  And  _I_  thought I just got lucky."

"That's all fine and dandy, but you know – it seems like you  _wanted_  to get me replaced," Jason said, in an accusatory tone.

"What? No!" Tim protested. "I just wanted to make sure Batman was okay! After you, uh, passed, Batman kinda went off the deep end for a bit."

"Really," Jason said, unconvinced.

"He got really reckless, making sloppy mistakes," Tim recalled. "Took out his grief on the criminals – some of them still can't walk. Hell, he almost killed some of them. Commissioner Gordon was getting suspicious, and Batman was almost dying every other night."

At this, Jason fell silent. He'd never heard this before – to him, it seemed as though nothing had changed. He came back to life, and Batman was galloping around Gotham with a replacement, as though Jason's death hadn't  _mattered._

But this. Batman had crippled criminals? Almost broke his own rule? Bruce  _grieved?_  The idea of him feeling emotion was almost foreign to Jason. The only one who could get a reaction out of him was Golden Boy Grayson. And yet, here was this nameless kid, telling him about how Jason's death affected Batman.

"Seeing that was hard," Tim said, still remembering. "I came to the conclusion that Batman needed a Robin. Because he was unbalanced. He was..." Tim paused, searching for words. "Robin is the optimism, the lighthearted jokes, the adventures. Batman is the fear, the darkness. Without Robin, he almost lost himself to the darkness he tried to destroy."

"Poetic," Jason mumbled. But he didn't dismiss it. As shitty of a brother Grayson was, there was a sort of unspoken understanding between them – to keep Batman grounded. Jason knew as well as anyone that Bruce had a tendency to get absorbed into the crime fighting crusade, so much that he almost forgot who he was fighting for. And glancing over at Steph, his fellow former Robin (as annoying as  _she_  was), he knew that she understood as well.

"My original plan was to get Nightwing to come back," Tim sighed. "I went to the trouble of tracking him down. I was planning to get him to come home and take up the Robin mantle again."

"Wait a sec," Steph cut in. "You met Nightwing before?"

"Once. I doubt he remembers it."

"No-Name, I'm pretty sure that even  _Goldie_  would remember some kid asking him to be Robin again," Jason pointed out.

"Oh no, not that," Tim corrected. "When I was really young, like three or four years old? My parents took me to the circus. I was there the night his parents died."

Steph blinked. "Right."

"Why did you think I got so stuck on Robin in the first place?" Tim shrugged. "But yeah, I went to talk to him, but then I chickened out."

Steph resisted the urge to laugh. "You. Chickened out."

"Yeah, I already know I'm a coward," Tim snapped back.

"No, I mean –" Steph sniggered. "You, who wandered around Gotham's streets since before you hit puberty, who attempted to take out the ninja following Red Hood on your own, who singlehandedly discovered the identity of the most paranoid person on the planet,  _chickened out._ "

"Shut up, Batgirl," Tim snapped, but he was blushing.

"Wait – what's this about a  _ninja_  following me?" Jason asked. "As in, Ra's al Ghul's ninjas? Is this why we're all tied up?"

"Get with the times, Hood," Steph replied. "You think I entered your territory  _willingly?_  I was following one of al Ghul's tools, and ran into this brat, here."

"I'm not a brat!"

"Oh, shut  _up_  Babybird, we all know you're a brat," Jason muttered.

Silence.

" _Babybird?_ " Tim asked, offended. Despite the situation, Steph was giggling.

"What else am I supposed to call you?" Jason snapped, flushing underneath his helmet. "You don't have a codename I can make fun of, and you probably could've been Robin yourself if you didn't chicken out like a  _baby._ "

Tim stared, equal parts shocked and embarrassed, while Steph laughed.

"Okay, never mind how  _weird_ that sounds, just – don't call me that, okay?" Tim said.

"Don't tell me what to do,  _Babybird,_ " Jason hissed. "I'm glad we had this heart to heart, but we've got two former Robins and Oracle's protégé over here. Shouldn't we have escaped by now?"

"Thought you'd never ask," Steph grinned. She slipped her arms out, and the rope that tied her to the pole was ripped up and useless.

Tim and Jason stared at her.

"Hey, these ridges on my costume aren't just for show," she said, rolling her eyes at their disbelieving looks. She gestured to the spikes on her forearms. After freeing the two boys, they huddled together.

"Okay, here's the plan..."

* * *

Tim crouched behind the crates, desperately trying to keep his breathing even. Steph was somewhere in the rafters, determining where Ra's al Ghul's ninja disappeared to. Once she found him, she'd signal Jason, and the Red Hood would cause a distraction to get both Tim and Steph out of the warehouse.

Jason was itching for a chance to beat up the bastards who'd knocked him out. Since Steph was the fastest, it was her job to chase down the ninja. And Tim was to get out, re-establish a connection with Oracle, and get backup to free all the kidnapped children being held here.

Tim was invisible in his hiding place, but his one way out was blocked by a few patrolling guards.

He looked up. Steph was signaling something to Jason, who was hidden on the other side of the warehouse. Then she disappeared, probably chasing down the ninja guy.

The sound of a gunshot rang through the warehouse, and the guards rushed towards the noise. From his hiding spot, Tim could see Jason yelling obscenities and punching out a few of the guards. The ones blocking his exit route joined the fray.

 _Alright. Now's my chance,_ Tim thought. He kept an eye on Jason as he held the attention of the large group of angry men and took the opening. As quickly and as stealthily as he could, he slipped through behind the guards -

And promptly tripped on a paint can.

Heads whirled as the can clattered to the ground, making noises loud enough to wake the dead. Tim lay sprawled out on the ground, clutching his injured shoulder and muttering panicked curses under his breath.

"Damn it, Babybird!" Jason shouted, already pulling out his gun. "You had  _one job!_ "

"I told you not to call me that!" Tim yelled back, pulling out his bo staff.

This was going to get messy.

Taking a deep breath, he remembered his (admittedly short) training. Jab, block, strike – he flowed through the movements with only the occasional stumble. A sudden movement next to him caught his attention – Red Hood landed next to him, knocking out a guy with a knife. They shifted positions, covering each other's backs. It was awkward – sometimes Tim had to duck a swing Jason aimed at someone else, and occasionally he almost tripped the older man with his clumsy staff fighting, but it went better than he'd expected, especially with some sort of vigilante anti-hero he'd only officially met a mere hour and a half ago.

Someone's fist brushed against his shoulder, and Tim hissed in pain. Man, Oracle was going to  _murder him_  when she found out about all the stupid decisions he'd made tonight.

Tim whapped a guy in the throat, and the guard fell to the ground, when Jason suddenly shouted.

"Go! I'll cover you!"

Tim knocked another body out of the way and made a break for it. Shouts of 'stop him' echoed through the warehouse. He began to zig-zag as the guards fired shots at him.

Tim took a sharp left, not really sure of where he was going. He knew the general area of the exit, and took random turns through the maze of shelving and abandoned shipping crates.

Left. Right. Left. Several times, Tim ended up doubling back and almost ran into the guards that were chasing him. The gap between Tim and his assailants was closing every time Tim took a wrong turn.

He took another right and groaned – another dead end. This was  _so_  not his night.

The shouts were getting closer. Doubling back was no longer an option. Forcing himself to stay calm, he collapsed his bo staff and backed up from a crate. Tim took a deep breath.

The shouts got louder.

He sprinted towards the crate and leaped, straining to get a handhold. His hands closed around the edge of the crate. Grimacing, he pulled himself up, trying his best to ignore his screaming shoulder. Once he managed to get to the top of the crate, he rubbed his injury, hoping that it wasn't serious enough for his dad to notice.

The angry shouts behind him reminded Tim of what was at stake.

He leaped across the top of the crates, heading closer to the exit. Behind him, clanging sounds. So the guards were climbing up on top, too.

Shoving down his panic, Tim jumped off the crate and rolled – one of the first things he worked on with Cassandra was how to fall – and came up running. This time, he was much closer to the exit of the warehouse, and it only took two more turns until he found himself outside of the building and standing on the street.

As soon as he exited the warehouse, he glanced around wildly, trying to identify the area.

Oh, good. He knew where he was.

Some of the guards following him burst out of the warehouse, but Tim wasn't worried anymore. This was his  _element._  With ease, he slipped into the Gotham's streets, taking turns and shortcuts that even Batman didn't know existed. He stuck to the shadows, using his small frame to his advantage as he twisted through the labyrinth that was Gotham's south side. Finally, once he'd lost the last of his tails, he made his way to the nearest phone booth and punched in Oracle's personal number.

One ring. "Hello?"

"Hey, Oracle," Tim said, with false cheer in his voice. "Batgirl and I solved your kidnapping case. The kids are being held in Reymond Electronic's old warehouse in the south side of the city."

" _Tim?_ "

"Also, Red Hood was there, last I saw," Tim said. "You might want to give Batman a heads up."

"Tim, what – the  _Red Hood_?"

"Batgirl's currently giving chase to a ninja," Tim continued. "Apparently the League of Assassins was the one backing up that little gang thing. Oh, and she needs a replacement for her earpiece."

A pause. Tim waited for Barbara to comprehend everything he just said.

"Thanks for the info," Barbara finally replied, her sarcasm evident even over the phone line. "Also, I've been putting it off, but you and I are going to have that 'mentors and students need to trust each other ' talk sometime soon. I'm fairly certain you're supposed to be sleeping in your house right now."

"Hey, I said I'd tell you if it got too big," Tim protested weakly.

"League of  _Assassins_ isn't big enough for you?" Babs replied. "I – never mind. Batman and Robin are on their way."

"Thanks for not biting my head off."

"Just you wait until you get your sorry ass back here," Barbara replied. "Try to not do anything else  _too_  reckless until the backup arrives."

Tim flushed. "Can do."

The line cut. Tim hung the phone back on its hook and closed his eyes.

"So you really are Oracle's kid."

Tim spun around, his hand on his bo staff, and relaxed minutely when he say the Red Hood leaning on the side of the phone booth. Tim sighed and exited the booth.

"What, did you think I lied?"

Hood tilted his head appraisingly. "You kinda struck me as the Bat-type."

Tim kept silent. He wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult.

"So what's this about you being a 'creepy fanboy'?" Hood asked.

Tim recalled the scrapbook in his closet, dedicated to photos of the second Robin. "Let's just say that I know exactly who you are and who you used to be," Tim said vaguely.

"I gathered that from that conversation," Jason said, referring to their time spent tied to a pole.

"Todd." Tim said, not even caring for subtleties anymore. "I know who everyone else is, too, so don't feel special or anything."

"Really?" Jason asked, sounding genuinely curious. "How long?"

"Batgirl wasn't exaggerating when she said I've been running around Gotham since before I hit puberty."

Jason snorted. He moved his arms, and Tim tensed in preparation for a fight, but he only removed his helmet.

Tim stared. Jason Todd – dark hair, white streak and all, was gazing back at him.

"Oh  _relax,_ " Jason rolled his eyes. "I took out all those losers." He smirked. "Heh. That was fun."

"You didn't  _kill_  them, did you?" Tim asked, taking a step back.

"Only two," Jason replied. "I figured, if Daddy Bats is gonna be on this case, might as well put up some effort."

An awkward pause. Tim wasn't really sure what he was expecting from Red Hood. A trigger-happy version of Robin II? An angry avenger? Jason was a bitter man, his humor darker and more sarcastic than it ever was as Robin. He shifted uncomfortably.

Jason's eyes narrowed. "Are you okay?"

"What?" Tim blinked, confused.

"Your shoulder," Jason said. "You've been favoring it since we all got tied up."

"You noticed?" Tim asked, absently reaching up to touch his injury.

"Kid, anyone with eyes would notice," Jason rolled his eyes. He reached into one of the pockets of his leather jacket and pulled out a small item. When Jason squeezed it, there was a cracking sound – and Tim realized that it was one of those instant ice packs.

"Here," Jason held it out. Tim's hand hovered above it, a suspicious gaze in his eyes.

"Why are you helping me?" He asked, still cautious.

Jason snorted. "Kid, I'm a murderer. I'm not  _heartless._  Plus, Oracle will murder me if she finds out I didn't help you."

Tim grabbed the ice pack. "Thanks."

"See ya around, Babybird."

"Don't call me that," Tim scowled at the ridiculous nickname.

"Don't tell me what to do," Jason smirked. He replaced his red helmet, waved, and ran off, slipping away into the dark.

Tim clutched the ice pack, the cold seeping into his hands. Finally, he pulled off his hoodie and placed it on his injury. He moaned in relief. Oh,  _God,_  that felt good.

When Batman and Robin finally showed up, Batgirl had already taken out the ninja. Oracle let him head home without stopping at her headquarters, but only because the sun was about to rise, and his dad didn't need to learn about his nighttime activities.

And after a long angry lecture (courtesy of Barbara), Dick and Steph ordered a bad movie marathon in celebration of a job well done. During the movies, Tim found himself glancing at the empty section of the couch, where in another universe, someone else would be occupying that space.

**Author's Note:**

> originally posted on fanfiction.net
> 
> Eventually, I'll expand upon the case that goes on in this one. Maybe. If I ever get around to it.


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